{"id":13507,"date":"2018-07-23T15:27:34","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T19:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/dcbrp\/?p=13507"},"modified":"2020-08-28T14:04:34","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T14:04:34","slug":"desolation-row-and-pleasantville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/2018\/07\/23\/desolation-row-and-pleasantville\/","title":{"rendered":"Pouring My Heart Out: Desolation Row and Pleasantville"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can a city exist where there is not a distinct dichotomy: Desolation Row and Pleasantville? I have thought a lot about our conversations surrounding regentrification in Detroit, and the more I do, the more helpless I feel. Here are a few moments that have crossed my mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

~As of late, I’ve been walking to work, and I’ve noticed that my surroundings are drastically changing as I am crossing over streets. Woodward is eclectic\u2013 businessmen in gray suits and young women in ruffled blouses and sandals sit at patio tables outside; women jog casually to morning workout songs, or play music as they bike, with bags from Whole Foods on their handlebars. I\u2019ll change direction for a bit, watching and hearing the Qline whisk passed me carrying more, unfamiliar faces. Sometimes, I stop on my way to work to see if any dogs are at the dog park or pick flowers that bloom near Go! Sy Thai, but if I walk all the way down Woodward and turn right just before the Little Caesars Arena to head over to 2nd Ave, I always forget where I am. It\u2019s like Joy said\u2013 it is when home becomes obscured, but the change happened so fast that you can\u2019t put your finger or the what, when or why. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

~Some days I\u2019ll be running late, so I skip the scenic route and walk down 2nd. Suddenly, I am encompassed by the mythic city. I see Cass Corridor\u2013 dilapidated buildings, garbage (ugh, the smell of garbage) and there is graffiti everywhere. I\u2019m sad, and I\u2019m scared. Many homeless people stay in this neighborhood, watching me backpack my way down unkempt streets under precarious trees, and I am reminded of stories about how drugs and violence used to riddle this part of the city. It was when Midtown was less hipster and more criminal\u2013 only a decade or two ago.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

When I make it to the Sierra Club, and sit down at my desk, having a moment to think over everything, I am overwhelmed with sadness. I\u2019d just walked from the other side of town. I know that sometime soon those groups of people will be displaced. We can\u2019t have homeless people lining the streets so close to the newly established slices of development; how will the businessmen enjoy their brunch\u2013 the women comfortably jog\u2013 the preppy U-M interns feel safe making their way to work at the Sierra Club?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And therein lies the rub.<\/span><\/p>\n

See, I don\u2019t feel helpless because there is nothing to do, I feel helpless because there is SO much to do. Few people outside of the Detroiters themselves are disillusioned by the propaganda assault that Detroit is \u201ccoming back\u201d\u2013\u201d taking off\u201d\u2013\u201cbeing rescued from ugly public relations and poor leadership\u201d. They either don\u2019t see or don\u2019t care to see the casualties of the process of gentrification. They won\u2019t ever tour what misery lies just a few streets over. Therefore, A LOT must be done to change this cultural mindset of morality.<\/span><\/p>\n

But for those few people (for those of us) willing and capable of being understanding to others\u2019 perspectives, I\u2019ll tell you how to fix gentrification, though I am sure you won\u2019t like the answer: educate. Enlighten people on the pejorative, racist nature of gentrification\u2013 how it subjugates people; remind them that the city is not just grass and roads, street and dirt: it’s people; do research on candidates, vote intentionally and with good heart, and encourage others to do the same; support local businesses and, if you are from Detroit, find ways to give back to your community. Not every social justice warrior would label herself as such\u2013 I surely would not. But I intend to do whatever I can to give agency back to us residents. You know what? I think I’m off to a damn good start.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can a city exist where there is not a distinct dichotomy: Desolation Row and Pleasantville? I have thought a lot about our conversations surrounding regentrification in Detroit, and the more I do, the more helpless I feel. Here are a few moments that have crossed my mind. ~As of late, I’ve been walking to work, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1669,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1669"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15434,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13507\/revisions\/15434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/dcerp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}